The daughter of a man accused of killing her mother and of trying to kill her in a stabbing attack in Ottawa's west end in June 2021 took the stand at his trial Thursday. The daughter, whom CTV News is not naming, told court about several instances of alleged abuse she witnessed, including one time in 2013, when she saw her father "holding a knife" to her mother before he allegedly said, "I'm going to kill you." The woman, now 26, told court that by the time she was nine her mother Hanadi Mohamed had been hit "more than once" and they had sought refuge at shelters, hotels and Airbnb's over the years "due to abuse.
" Hamid Ayoub has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder. He had earlier pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault, but the Crown rejected the plea. Court heard that, for a time, no one other than Mohamed and her daughter knew where they were living—not even her brother.
"We thought it was best, just in case he would be followed," the daughter said. "And who would be doing the following?" asked assistant Crown attorney Louise Tansey. "The accused," the woman replied.
She said at one point, Ayoub sent a text with a screenshot of where they were living. "He said it wasn't hard to figure out where we were staying," the daughter testified. "What did you take from that?" Tansey asked.
"I didn't really respond because I was still in shock," she replied. Mohamed and her children came to Canada from Sudan in.